With the owners Mr Samuel Raphael and Mrs Glenda C. Raphael on board, Hummingbird Air made its inaugural flight into the Virgin Islands on Friday, June 5, 2015 landing at the Terrance B. Lettsome International Airport, Beef Island, thanks to the persistence of Platinum Port Services (BVI). This newest boost to the Virgin Islands tourism industry will for the first time in the BVI’s history see the linking of Canefield,Dominica and Tortola, BVI with both commercial and domestic flights. This will be every Mondays and Fridays in the initial stages as explained by Ms Patricia M. Romney, Director of Operations at Platinum Port Services (BVI).
“There has been a history of traffic between Dominica and Tortola with a significant number of persons from Dominica living in the BVI, so, this service will provide an excellent connection for persons who would want to traverse between their homeland or to visit as tourists as well as to take cargo, which is one of the main features of Hummingbird Air.”
Ms Romney said that this inaugural flight materialised after some six months of intense negotiation and was very complimentary of Director of the BVI Tourist Board Ms Sharon Flax. “It was
actually a mutual friend between ourselves and the owner of the aircraft, he is school friends with the Director of the Tourist Board Ms Sharon Flax so she provided us with some information on the airline for which we were grateful, that’s how we made that connection.”
Hummingbird Air is a USA registered airline based in St Croix, US Virgin Islands and is currently working with the FAA to getregistered as a scheduled carrier to expand on the number of flights.
Being a US-based carrier coming from St Croix, St Thomas USVI, then to the BVI, it also offers a link for persons wishing to travel between St Croix and Tortola without having to go to St Thomas, USVI to catch a sea plane to go across.